Defining Success by Athene

Atheneof Chattanooga's entry into Varsity Tutor's May 2014 scholarship contest

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Athene of Chattanooga, TN
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Defining Success by Athene - May 2014 Scholarship Essay

An everyday routine can sometimes take you through a place that you never anticipated of going towards. It can help us break our own habits, which we seem to develop and stick to everyday, and forcefully send us into the unknown to discover what we thought did not exist. I was able to experience this on the day of my "exam" in my color theory class. I say “exam” because it was actually and informal critique of our last project. However, it happened to be one of the last few days I would see Professor Robert Cox; as he was leaving his teaching days behind and moving on to better things. As one of the best professors in the art department it was hard to see him go. After our critique, Professor Cox went on to give a short speech, as teachers usually do on the last day they see their class in the semester. I can't recall exactly what he said, all I can actually remember is a crucial piece of advice he gave: "Define success on your own terms."

I had no idea how much this phrase would change my view on my future, because at first I didn't understand what he meant. When I finally understood the phrase a few days later, I realized that what he meant was that as an artist there is no one set type of job, there are many. And what is good about that, as Professor Cox had explained, was that we were free to pick our own path; and that it was encouraged that we would pick our own path. For example, if we wanted to be a famous artist that shows his or her work in galleries, that we should follow that path if it's really what we wanted to do. Or if we wanted to create art that was more for ourselves, and live a quiet non-famous lifestyle, that we should follow through with what we want and not be deviated by what everyone else is doing. And once we make it to that point in our lives, and reached our goal, that would mean we would be "successful artists."

As I said before, I had no idea at the time how much these words would impact my life. I didn't think much of it, until I fully understood Professor Cox' words. It was an eye opener; I never considered this idea as possible. At the time when I decided to study art, I had known that most people looked down on others who study art; but I wanted to prove them wrong. I wanted to be able to have a successful career that made money by creating art. However, now I think that my approach was wrong. After hearing and better understanding Professor Cox' words, I believe that my approach to "being successful" has changed. It has pushed me to finally see that there is no one set path to success: there are millions of paths. Surprisingly, however, this is something that most students are not aware of. And Professor Cox’ words can apply to any student with any major that will be pursuing a career in the future. For me, the everyday routine of showing up for my college classes, unexpectedly gave me an answer to a question that I had not asked. It changed my way of thinking about success and my approach to it. From that moment, I defined success on my own terms, just like the great Professor Cox said.

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